Madame Cézanne

November 19, 2014–March 15, 2015http://www.metmuseum.org

Madame Cézanne, the first exhibition of paintings, drawings, and watercolors by Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) of his most painted model, Hortense Fiquet (1850–1922), will open at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on November 19. The exhibition will trace Cézanne’s lifelong attachment to the woman who was his model, his wife, and the mother of his son, Paul. She profoundly influenced his portrait practice for more than two decades, and yet, she was not well received—by either his family or his friends.

Highlights of the painted portraits in Madame Cézanne will include Madame Cézanne in a Red Armchair (ca. 1877) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Madame Cézanne (ca. 1885) from the private collection on loan to Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Museum Berggruen in Berlin; Portrait of Madame Cézanne (ca. 1885–87) from the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Portrait of Madame Cézanne in a Striped Dress (1883–85) from Japan’s Yokohama Museum of Art; Madame Cézanne in Blue (ca. 1888–90) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the aforementioned canvases from the Metropolitan Museum’s collection. Highlights of the works on paper will include three striking watercolors, 14 drawin